Forest fire danger level 5: Ansbach under fire – This is how the authorities react!

Forest fire danger level 5: Ansbach under fire – This is how the authorities react!

The persistent drought and temperature peaks above 30 degrees Celsius are driving the risk of forest fires in the Ansbach region to the extreme. The German Weather Service has declared forest fire danger level 5 - the highest possible level, which is only reached in exceptionally long periods of heat and drought. In addition to Ansbach, parts of Regensburg, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Holzkirchen are also affected, and even around 60 other regions in Bavaria are at a high level with level 4, like NN.de reported.

A concrete example of how serious the situation is can be seen in the Roth district, where around 550 emergency services fought a forest fire in Wendelstein on Tuesday. The fire departments are well prepared for the challenges and have already intensified their cooperation with farmers to ensure water supplies. Nevertheless, the warning against careless actions remains: open fires, grilling in the forest or on the edge of the forest are strictly prohibited, and smoking is generally prohibited from March 1st to October 31st.

The factors behind the danger

The current risk of forest fires results from several factors: temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, humidity below 30 percent and wind speeds of more than 30 km/h. Nine out of ten fires in the Ansbach district are of human origin. At this point it is important to emphasize that the forest fire danger index (WBI) is regularly updated by the German Weather Service and the assessment of the forest fire risk is crucial for the warnings from the state authorities DWD informed.

The history of forest fires in Germany shows that although the area affected by fires decreased significantly between 1991 and 2017, the weather-related risk remained the same or even increased. The extremely dry years of 2018 and 2019 saw a worrying increase in forest fires, especially in the northeastern federal states, while damage from storms and pests continues to dominate in other regions. Despite improvements in wildfire detection and containment, there remain challenges that need to be addressed to prevent further increases in risk, such as: Federal Environment Agency determines.

The next few days give no reason to give the all-clear. Instead, the government of Middle Franconia has already announced aerial observation flights in order to identify possible sources of fire at an early stage. Citizens are called upon to exercise caution, especially when engaging in recreational activities in forests and fields, and to ensure that they do not throw lit cigarettes out of their cars or park their vehicles on easily flammable surfaces.

At this critical time, a shared sense of responsibility is needed; So everyone can contribute to safety by taking the warnings seriously and immediately alerting the fire department on 112 if vegetation fires are suspected.